Miss-Delectable
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Deaf and Blind Dog Learns New Tricks - KMPH FOX 26 | Central San Joaquin Valley News Source
Angel is a deaf and blind Australian Shepherd but she proved that she's smart enough to learn a few tricks. We caught up with Angel at PetSmart in Clovis where she's enrolled in advance training.
Angel loves her owner and trainer Elisha Dillon. They've been together nearly seven years. Despite being blind and deaf, Angel can follow orders. "For sit it's just two touches between her back hips. And to lay down it's two touches between her shoulder blades."
Elisha talks to Angel like she can hear but she can't. Every command the dog receives is by touch. "I can tell her just to come which is just underneath her chin, and she'll move until she finds me or finds something else."
Elisha Dillon says the key to training a deaf and blind dog is patience and repetition. "She has like a release word like 'okay' is what you normally tell a dog. Because she can't hear that hers is just kind of over her face and that means she can go and be a dog."
Angel likes to hang out with other talented dogs who can see and hear. But Angel proved that she can compete with the rest of the pack. She's a regular visitor at PetSmart and "old blue eyes" can find her way around. "As long as I take the same route when I come in the door and go straight to the training center, she doesn't usually hit anything. But over in this area where I don't venture a lot, she kind of will run into but she grazes off things very well."
Seven years ago, Angel's breeder wanted to have her put down because she was disabled. Elisha Dillon came to her rescue and they've been best friends ever since. "Free, be a puppy."
Angel is a deaf and blind Australian Shepherd but she proved that she's smart enough to learn a few tricks. We caught up with Angel at PetSmart in Clovis where she's enrolled in advance training.
Angel loves her owner and trainer Elisha Dillon. They've been together nearly seven years. Despite being blind and deaf, Angel can follow orders. "For sit it's just two touches between her back hips. And to lay down it's two touches between her shoulder blades."
Elisha talks to Angel like she can hear but she can't. Every command the dog receives is by touch. "I can tell her just to come which is just underneath her chin, and she'll move until she finds me or finds something else."
Elisha Dillon says the key to training a deaf and blind dog is patience and repetition. "She has like a release word like 'okay' is what you normally tell a dog. Because she can't hear that hers is just kind of over her face and that means she can go and be a dog."
Angel likes to hang out with other talented dogs who can see and hear. But Angel proved that she can compete with the rest of the pack. She's a regular visitor at PetSmart and "old blue eyes" can find her way around. "As long as I take the same route when I come in the door and go straight to the training center, she doesn't usually hit anything. But over in this area where I don't venture a lot, she kind of will run into but she grazes off things very well."
Seven years ago, Angel's breeder wanted to have her put down because she was disabled. Elisha Dillon came to her rescue and they've been best friends ever since. "Free, be a puppy."